Picking flowers [Closed]

(OOC: Timeline: Week 18 Monday)

Pierce leaned against the railing of the airship bay, a fairly long drop behind him as an airship docked against the cliff, its door staying closed for a moment before opening, the pilot nodding to Pierce before walking back. It was a smaller ship, fit for around 6 passengers with two benches in the middle compartment that faced each other, a good four feet of space for luggage. Not that Pierce had much. On the ground beside him, he had a fairly large backpack and that was all he needed. Pulling his hood over his head to shield from the sunlight, he reads the briefing message on his scroll once more.

Mr. Michellis.

You have been chosen among the student body to embark on this experimental mission. Recently, there have been reports of a new species of grimm inhabiting the Emerald Forest's deeper areas. You have been chosen for your familiarity with the environment and are tasked to investigate this new threat and, if possible, take a significant amount from their numbers. An airship will meet you at precisely 0800 hours and will transport you to the drop zone. From there, you and your three team members will trek to the areas where these grimm have been spotted. Equip yourself accordingly, the dense forest makes it impossible to bring you closer than a day or two of trekking. We wish you good luck.


Sighing as he read it over another time, Pierce shuts his scroll, dropping it in his pocket as he folded his arms across his chest, waiting for his teammates for the next few days.

"Nice to meet you, Amani." Pierce said, pulling back his hood and shaking her hand, ignoring the accent to the best of his capabilities and, more importantly, her rather skimpy attire. Just think of Asami. Just think of Asami. He recited, the mantra repeating in his head. "And yeah, I'm going on the mission, though I guess it could count as a deadly camping trip if you think about it."

Aphelion rode up to the airship on Equinox, glancing around a little before hopping off and patting the horse, ''Thanks bud.'' he patted the equine once more, to tell it to go back, before going to board.

Thorn walked up to the airship holding a small bag and Ambrosia Spike strapped to her belt. She immediately walked into the ship eyeing three people. One who was shrouded by a hood, one that was scantily clothed, and Aphelion! She then skipped over to Aphelion making sure to stay behind him. She then pokes him on the back and said in a loud enough voice that it could probably startle him, "Hello teammate, and friend! I didn't think I d be seeing you here." Of course a Thorn did forget that he told her about his wilderness experience...probably because of the events taking place at that moment in time.

"Hi Thorny girl." Aphelion chuckled, tussling Thorn's hair a little before skipping over to Pierce and Amani, "Hello to you two, I presume you are coming to this excursion as well? Nice to meet you, name's Aphelion." he chirped, sticking his hand out in a friendly gesture and smiling at the pair.

"Huh? OH uh, right. Totally wasn't looking there. I-it's Pierce. Nice to meet you." Pierce said apologetically, rubbing the back of his head awkwardly as he spotted Aphelion and Thorn behind Amani. "Oh hey, I think our teammates are here!" He said, eager to switch the topic as he walked to stand beside Amani, looking at the two new arrivals,, shaking his hand. "Hi Aphelion. I'm Pierce, nice to meet you, and this is...." She said, gesturing to Amani.

Thorn waved to Pierce and Amani and said loud enough so they could hear, "Hello, I'm Thorn, nice to meet you both!" Now that her introductions were over with, she moved over to Aphelion and said, "I didn't even know how many people were attending. I assumed a lot more people had experience with this type of thing, but apparently not."

"Nice to meet you too and yeah, you'd think more students lived in a foresty area or something. Anyway, let's go. The pilot's waiting." Pierce said as he retrieved his backpack and slung it on, raising an eyebrow at what Amani was doing and resisting the urge to ask before moving on and entering the airship.

''Amani and Pierce, alright.'' Aphelion nodded before going onto the ship and sitting down, immediately shifting to lay on it and close his eyes for a nap.

Thorn grabbed her bags and walked up into the airship. She went over and took a seat next to Aphelion who was already sprawled out. She said, "Tired? We haven't even taken off yet!" She then laughed and yawned herself. She then said, "You didn't hear that!"

As the team boarded the airship, the pilot shut the doors, almost immediately taking off. The trip was mostly uneventful, save for a few nevermore that strayed too close to the airship. Below them, the forest spread out, trees as tall as buildings as far as the eye could see though the dense canopy grew thicker the nearer the horizon. Around thirty minutes later, the ship landed on a clear patch of tall grass, about knee high. The doors opened revealing a clearing no bigger than a basketball court and surrounded by tall trees. "Your destination should be a day or two's trek east. I suggest you make camp and rest before looking for that new grimm" The pilot said through the ship speakers. "Well, ladies first." Pierce said, gesturing towards the door.

Thorn yawned and stood up and looked at Amani and Pierce who were already up and ready to go. She then said, "Already? I barely got any rest..." She then stood up and walked off the airship. She noticed the tall grass being pushed down by the airship in the small radius around it. She then looked around the clearing for any dangers or possible threats. She said specifically to Amani, "Yes, it would be best if we kept on our guard. They're not completely dumb."

Waking up to the sounds of outside, Aphelion made sure to get up and stretch, giving off a pleasant waking moan before hopping out of the airship and putting his hands in his pockets, looking around with a smile, "Nice trees..." he exclaimed, looking up them before bending his legs down and pouring Aura into them, waiting until an adequate amount was transferred before using the power-up to leap up to one of the taller trees, grabbing onto one branch and using it to stand on another, scouting the area.

Pierce simply laughs as Aphelion immediately leaps into the trees, getting off the airship and waving to the pilot in the cockpit as he took off. Waiting til the airship was out of sight, Pierce walks up to the two still on the ground. "We should probably get going. It'd do good to get a decent leg of the journey done before sunset." He said, walking along beside Amani with a curious look on his face. "Sooo... uhh... Da Raaktu?"

"It's no problem." Pierce beamed back, wanting to ask more questions but holding them back, seeing as she looked a little embarrassed or uncomfortable with the topic, "It's uhh... it's interesting to say the least. I'd love to hear more once we set up camp for the night. Right now though, we trek." He said, looking up at Aphelion as well.

Thorn looked at Amani slightly interested in her heritage. She then looked to Pierce saying, "Yes, we should probably get moving. We have a lot of ground to cover, and night isn't going to wait forever." She then began walking forwards hoping the others would follow her lead and began to get moving. She then stopped, finally noticing Aphelion in the tree and laughed saying, "How are you doing up there?"

Sighing slightly, Aphelion started hopping down, branch from branch, back to the ground. Landing softly on the ground, he made sure to fix up his clothes before speaking, "Nothing but trees all around from what I see. Not that that's a bad thing, I guess just a little bland..." Aphelion glanced towards the thick forest ahead and quickly brought his hands together to mouth a silent prayer to his Gods.

Pierce looked up, judging the direction by the position of the sun and true enough Amani was pointing east. "Alright. I don't see anything else to do other than go." He said, starting in the direction the foreign girl pointed, walking backwards to look at his teammates as he walked. "So what now? Do we walk at a leisurely pace or go rolling around at the speed of sound?" He joked, quickly checking behind him before returning his gaze to the three.

Thorn looked at Argent and said in a sarcastic voice, "Let's sulk there at the speed of a scooter, I would really enjoy that after not being able to sleep very well." She then looked at the path ahead and shrugged not noticing anything in particular about it. She then looked at Amani's peculiar necklace and said, "That's a fascinating necklace you have there, Amani was it?"